Weekend, paddle boats, and contemplation, oh my

How is it that I always end up blogging when I have the most work to do? Ahh! Then again, I suppose the rest of this week won't be too different from today--on top of usually long daily lessons, we have our midterm on Friday, which means I need to start reviewing all those 生词 (new characters/words) from previous weeks. 哎呀，糟糕!

I suppose the most interesting thing to note from the past few days is that I've finally started to explore Beijing on my own, rather then relying on my teachers to take me places or staying in my dorm and studying all day. On Friday, after meeting up with Grace Kim (CET) in Wudaokou, a few DSICPers and I checked out Chaoyang District's Club Babyface. It was a little small, but admission was free and the music was good, so the overall experience was pretty decent.

The next morning, I somehow managed to wake myself up by 8:30 to go to 颐和园 (Summer Palace) for a tour led by the teachers. It was definitely one of the most beautiful places I've visited so far in Beijing, and I enjoyed the morning there despite the intermittent rain and ridiculous heat. After getting back to our dorms, I felt pretty tired, so I took a nap (睡午觉!) for six hours. (Side note: I felt really really cold after waking up, even though the weather was super hot and my A/C wasn't turn up that high. Weird?)

That night, at the suggestion of some teachers and friends, I took a cab to Sanlitunr--first to eat, then to play. The restaurant I went to is called Bellagio, and it's pretty high-class, even by American standards. Interestingly, all the fuwuyuans were women with really short hair, so I spent a few minutes debating with my friend whether or not they were forced to cut their hair after starting to work there. Our conclusion? No clue.

Everyone else was tired, so my friend and I decided to check out Club Mix by ourselves. If you're not familiar with Beijing nightlife, Club Mix is probably one of the biggest and most famous nightclubs in the city; needless to say, I was pretty excited. The entrance fee was a little steep (50 yuan, about $7USD--clearly, my standards have dropped). However, the reason for this exorbitance quickly became clear: Mix has two huge dance floors, each with its own bar, DJ, and giant LCD screen. The floor was super crowded, so there wasn't much room for movement (or breathing), but I gradually adjusted to the atmosphere, and three hours later I had danced to my heart's content. By some strange coincidence, I later found out that some of the people I had danced with are HBA students, including a Yalie. Beijing sure is a small city.

Sunday was also very interesting. My language partner (yuban, hereafter) had asked me to show her what church in China is like, but since Chinese citizens aren't allowed to go to BICF, the international fellowship that I attend, my friend and I took our yubans and one of their friends to the state-run "Three Self" church. The service was all in Chinese, so I couldn't understand a single thing; however, it did seem like everyone else was pretty engaged, so I assume good words were spoken. Our ensuing discussion was also rather thought-provoking, particularly when my yuban's friend found out that I was a physics major. For some reason, she simply could not fathom how a person could study science and still be religious. Because my Chinese is still very lacking, I wasn't able to respond as well as I would have liked to; however, I still feel that even being able to initiate this kind of conversation with a Chinese native is one of the biggest benefits of coming here to study.

Yesterday, my yuban, her friends, their yubans, and I all went to a 小公园 (small park) to have a picnic. Apparently, "small" in China doesn't actually mean small: the park had an enormous lake complete with boat rentals, a bridge, and a scenic trail around its perimeter. We first rode paddle boats for an hour, during which I quickly discovered how out of shape I've become. Then we walked around the park and found a nice, shady spot to sit down and eat snacks. It was probably the first time I've really been able to relax and unwind since I got to Beijing, and I would definitely like to go back before I'm done with the program.

Speaking of coming and going, I've noticed an unfortunate but not-so-odd trend. Foreigners such as myself come to China to study Chinese language and culture, yet once we get here (I say we because I'm often guilty of this as well), we fall into the trap of only wanting to do things that are familiar, and therefore comfortable. For example, in my three and a half weeks of living in Beijing, I've probably eaten American and Korean food as many times as I've eaten Chinese food, if not more often. And what do I do with my block of free time every weekday afternoon? I stay in my air-conditioned dorm room and use the internet, as unreliable as it may be. My goal for the remainder of my stay in China is to integrate myself into the Chinese lifestyle more, even if it means sacrificing some conveniences and having to accept different viewpoints on what's "good" and what's "bad." Maybe in the end, those viewpoints will become my own. That would be a huge but awesome step in my studies.

Does anybody else use that little side scroll bar to judge how much they've written? Mine is about a centimeter long now, which I take to mean that I've written just enough to be thorough but not enough to bore everyone (hopefully). See you after the midterm, probably!